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I see Lou Dobbs, when he's not pimping for a revival of the anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party, has noticed that the Pentagon has denuded itself of its most powerful neocon leaders, causing something of a power vaccuum there (the transcript is not yet up on his site). This AP article mentions that there are so may civilian job vacancies that Rumsfeld himself is having to handle major military acquisitions for the Air Force. The LA Times notes all the vacancies, including five of the top six in the Air Force, the Secretary of the Navy, as well as the No. 2 and 3 positions formerly held by Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith. Plus, Gen. Richard Myers is retiring as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in September.

Is it too much of a stretch to suggest that the neocons are jumping ship out of fear for legal reprisal to their policies? It sure seemed odd that Wolfowitz would get kicked over to the World Bank so swiftly, being that he has no experience in the matters they handle. And Feith literally melted away.

I'm not saying that the neocons are in full retreat after their bungled mess of things in Iraq and relative laissez-faire incompetence in Iran and North Korea. Indeed, they doubtlessly feel emboldened by the so-called "Arab spring" over the last few months (though one read of Juan Cole will disabuse you of that notion). I'm just saying that the high-profile neocons are being reassigned. They're most closely aligned with Iraq policy, they have the most to lose once Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo fully unravel. So they're being hidden. In the meantime, we have virtually nobody in charge of the military in a time of war, a severe breakdown that can lead to little things like not scrambling fighter jets in the wake of a terrorist attack.

And I can't help but consider the banishment of the high-profile neocons in the light of recent opinion polls on Iraq. Much like everything else in this Administration, as soon as something goes awry it gets tossed under the White House like an old sled. They're going to try to make everyone forget about Terri Schiavo, privatization, WMD, Abu Ghraib, and everything else about Iraq other than the purple finger.

By the way, if you have a decent military-industrial complex resume, I advise you to get it up on Monster.